The present invention relates to a clamp for mounting a long component, such as a wire harness or electrical wiring, on a support such as the body panel of an automobile.
Clamps using a band for mounting long components such as wire harnesses or electrical wiring, on body panels are well known in the art. The clamped long component should not make contact with other components if its position shifts with respect to a support surface of a buckle of the clamp. When the long component has a diameter greater than the width of the support surface of the buckle, the long component can be kept from slipping into a band inlet of the buckle by winding it up in the band. However, this causes interference with other components surrounding the clamped component. Also, if the clamped component slips to a position at which it is blocked by a large diameter wire hardness, for example, the clamped component cannot be seen. This makes it difficult to insert the end of a mounting device of the clamp into a mounting hole in the support. There is currently no known clamp for a long component in which shifting of the position of a clamped long component on the support surface of the buckle, due to the size of the outer diameter of the long component, is prevented reliably.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application [Kokai] Publication No. 7-212943 (Patent Document 1), a clamp for a long component comprises a band wound around and securing the outer circumferential surface of a long component, such as a wire harness or electrical wiring, a buckle having a support surface near a base of the band for placement of the long component wound with the band against the support surface and for holding the band in a wound state, and a mounting device connected to the buckle and extending opposite to the long component on the support surface of the buckle for mounting the clamp on a support such as a body panel. In order to keep the center line of the mounting device from slipping with respect to the center line of the clamped component, an alignment groove is formed in the support surface of the buckle to match the center line of the mounting device to the center line of the clamped component. Even when a large diameter wire harness is used, which often causes slippage, the center line of the mounting device remains aligned with the wire harness, and the wire harness is kept from slipping out of position when mounted.
A clamp for a long component is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application [Kokai] Publication No. 8-093723 (Patent Document 2) that reduces the amount of slippage of a long component with respect to a buckle, irrespective of the outer diameter of the long component. In this clamp, a band insertion passage extends from a support surface of the buckle along the axis of the mounting device, i.e., in the axial direction of the mounting device. Because of this, the center line of the long component wound with the band and held by the support surface remains fairly constant regardless of the outer diameter of the long component.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application [Kokai] Publication No. 2003-028111 (Patent Document 3), a clamp for a wire harness has a buckle that comprises an insertion passage for guiding a band so that an engagement portion on the band is engaged by a pawl or the buckle, and guide portions for restraining the band in the insertion passage. The insertion passage extends from an inlet for the band opposite to the base of the band to an outlet for the band near the base of the band. This clamp has elements to press a wire harness against a support surface. As a result, the center line of the wiring harness remains aligned with the axis of the mounting device whether the diameter of the wire harness is large or small.
When a wire harness is placed inside the groove in the support surface of the buckle in the clamp described in Patent Document 1, it is kept from becoming misaligned. However, because an insertion passage is not properly formed in the buckle so as to restrain the band, both the band and the wire harness may separate from the support surface in the buckle, and the position of the wire harness may not be secure. Because the band in the clamp described in Patent Document 2 is pulled out of an insertion passage in the buckle in the axial direction of the mounting device, the band pull out operation requires a hand to be inserted between the buckle and a surface of the opposing support. As a result, the operability of the clamp is impaired. In the clamp described in Patent Document 3, an insertion passage is formed in the buckle to restrain the band, so that the wire harness does not come off the support surface of the buckle. The band can be pulled out of the insertion passage from the buckle side. However, the clamp described in Patent Document 3 needs a special protrusion on the support surface of the buckle.